HEA 1376 Provides Tax Credit, Full-Day Kindergarten Funding

Parent Fee Of $1,260 Will Cease Beginning In 2012-13 At S-OCS

by Travis Curry SEW Editor

and Michael Stanley Staff Writer

House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1376 was one of the major pieces of legislation passed during the 2012 session of the Indiana General Assembly, yet few people outside the Indiana Statehouse know much about it.

HEA 1376 has been signed by the governor and is now law. Below are some of the highlights of this act:

HEA 1376 contains refinements to the “automatic taxpayer refund,” guaranteeing that a portion of the state’s budget surplus is returned to the people of Indiana when reserves reach a certain level.

Don’t get too excited, though, because you aren’t going to receive a check in the mail. This isn’t that kind of a refund. It will be a credit that will be applied against your tax liability. You might get a little more on your actual refund, or pay a little less back to the state, but it’s more likely that you won’t notice it at all.

And you won’t be seeing anything from this in 2012. The first time you can get the credit will be in 2013, and only if the reserves are large enough. After that, the credit will be available only every other year, not every year.

HEA 1376 also provides an additional $80 million to cover the state’s share of full-day kindergarten.

It should be noted that this additional funding only covers the state’s share of costs for this program. Local schools still have to provide funding, personnel, materials and space, and many simply don’t have the financial ability to do so.

HEA 1376 will give an additional $6 million to victims of the tragedy at the 2011 Indiana State Fair, when seven people were killed and dozens injured after a stage collapsed during a concert. HEA 1376 also makes the Family and Social Services Agency official again. Last year, the legislature failed to re-authorize the existence of FSSA, which oversees programs like food stamps and Medicaid. As a result, the agency needed an executive order from the governor to technically stay in operation.

HEA 1376 refines the state law that passed last year regarding turnaround academies, the program that enables private companies to come in and take over underachieving schools. These changes do little to resolve many people’s concerns about this program, which enables the private sector to take tax dollars away from our public schools, with little accountability if they fail.

“We are very pleased that the Indiana legislature has allocated the necessary funding to support full-day kindergarten for all Hoosier students,” Spencer-Owen Community Schools Superintendent Greg Linton said. “In the past, SOCS has had to charge Non-Title I students a fee to attend kindergarten full-day. This new law will eliminate the need to charge the fee. It also provides students with the opportunity to spend the necessary time in school to ensure the mastery of skills they will need to be successful as they begin the educational process.”

Currently, parents whose students do not qualify for the Title I grant program are required to pay a voluntary fee of $1,260.

“In the past, those students presenting the greatest academic need qualified to participate in full-day kindergarten, funded through the Title I grant,” S-OCS Curriculum Director Brock Beeman added.

Beeman explained that the academic expectations for kindergarten students have increased, noting that students are currently using a new set of standards for mathematics and English language arms referred to as the Common Core State Standards.

“In many respects, the skills formerly learned at the first grade level have become an expectation for kindergarten,” Beeman said. “These standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our students will need for the future. It is very exciting to see the legislative support for Indiana students as they take on these new challenges.”